Las Vegas Funny Car Event Recap – HAGAN WINS!

Leah Pruett & Matt Hagan

Top Fuel | Funny Car
NHRA Four-Wide Nationals
April 14-16 | Las Vegas

Event Recap

Leah Pruett, driver of the Code 3 Associates Top Fuel Dragster:
• Earned No. 2 provisional qualifying position in Q1 on Friday (3.747 ET at 322.50 mph)
• Scored two bonus points for second-quickest run of the session.
• Fell to No. 3 provisional qualifying position in Q2 on Friday (6.118 ET at 112.64 mph)
• Earned No. 5 provisional qualifying position based off Friday’s Q1 run. In Q3 on Saturday, Pruett ran a 3.753 ET at 329.26 mph.
• Secured No. 5 qualifying position in Q4 on Saturday (3.746 ET at 328.78 mph).
• Scored one bonus point for third-quickest run of the session.
• Advanced to Round 2 on Sunday:
• Round 1: 3.779 ET at 329.60 mph, defeated Austin Prock (4.172 ET at 258.90 mph) and Justin Ashley (4.211 ET at 313.22 mph). Rob Passey also advanced to Round 2 (4.074 ET at 276.69 mph).
• Round 2: 3.798 ET at 322.34 mph, lost to Brittany Force (3.758 ET at 313.05 mph) and Antron Brown (3.769 ET at 312.71 mph). Rob Passey (no time) was also defeated by Force and Brown.
• Currently sixth in the championship standings, 71 points behind Top Fuel leader Steve Torrence.

Matt Hagan, driver of the Haas Automation Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car:
• Earned No. 9 provisional qualifying position in Q1 on Friday (4.022 ET at 314.61 mph)
• Earned No. 3 provisional qualifying position in Q2 on Friday (3.936 ET at 327.82 mph)
• Scored one bonus point for third-quickest run of the session.
• Maintained No. 3 provisional qualifying position based off Friday’s Q2 run. In Q3 on Saturday, Hagan ran a 4.253 ET at 221.74 mph.
• Secured No. 3 qualifying position based off Friday’s Q2 run. In Q4 on Saturday, Hagan ran a 3.972 ET at 322.19 mph.
• Advanced to Finals on Sunday:
• Round 1: 3.997 ET at 317.72 mph, defeated Alex Laughlin (4.225 ET at 265.22 mph) and Robert Hight (4.270 ET at 249.58 mph). Jeff Diehl also advanced to Round 2 (4.003 ET at 303.50 mph).
• Round 2: 3.968 ET at 322.81 mph, defeated Alexis DeJoria (4.061 ET at 275.90 mph) and Jeff Diehl (4.291 ET at 228.31 mph). John Force also advanced to the Finals (4.069 ET at 321.04 mph).
• Final: 3.943 ET at 326.79 mph, defeated Tim Wilkerson (3.969 ET at 319.45 mph). John Force ran third (4.005 ET at 321.81 mph) and Chad Green finished fourth (4.222 ET at 250.74 mph).
• Currently leads the Funny Car championship standings with a 105-point advantage over Ron Capps.

Notes of Interest

• Hagan’s win marks his fifth overall at Las Vegas and his first in the NHRA 4-Wide Nationals. It’s his third win out of the first four events, after earning victories at Gainesville and Pomona.
• Hagan earned Haas Automation their second back-to-back win in the NHRA as primary sponsor of the Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car. Haas Automation was founded by Gene Haas, the co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing in the NASCAR Cup Series.
• Team owner Tony Stewart earned his first win as driver in the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series. It marks the 43rd consecutive season he has earned a motorsports victory.
• Pruett represented Code 3 Associates in a successful weekend at the NHRA 4-Wide Nationals. Code 3 Associates is highlighting Animal Cruelty Prevention Month by helping individuals take their career to the next level by becoming a Certified Animal Cruelty Investigator.

Leah Pruett, Driver of the Code 3 Associates Top Fuel Dragster

“This Code 3 Associates dragster hot rod is phenomenal. Our team is putting in the work. Track conditions got more tricky as the day went on. I felt like I had absolutely nailed it off the hit, but the timing on my sheet showed otherwise. That is why we are this team because we will go out there and regroup and press on. That’s what Tony Stewart Racing is all about. Today was a tuner’s game. For all the fans in the stands, I want you to know that all these racecars go down the track because of the crew members you see working day in and day out in the pits. For Neal Strausbaugh, this is his second year as lead crew chief. Mike Domagala (co-crew chief), Ryan McGilvry (car chief) and all my guys are what make this car go fast. To be honest, slowing the car down is one of the most difficult things for teams to do to make the car consistent. You have two championship-winning drivers and teams in Brittany Force and Antron Brown. Even though we’re competing against them, those are the goals we are looking forward to. There’s so much that goes into the ingenuity and mechanics of racing and there are so many job opportunities out here. For our Code 3 Associates team, we’re going to keep pushing.”

Matt Hagan, Driver of the Haas Automation Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car

“I’d like to start off talking about Tony Stewart. The guy is amazing and obviously a wheelman. He’s great at whatever he steps into. After he won, he crawled under my car and said ‘I just won, you better win. Let’s go!’ It is so special to be able to share the winner’s circle with him. It is the highlight of my career. People don’t realize what type of guy he is. I was looking up his accolades to see what he had accomplished when I decided I was going to drive for him. He’s genuinely a good man that you want to win for. I cannot say enough about my crew chief Dickie Venables. There isn’t a weekend he doesn’t impress me. It’s been nothing but glorious with him. We always have a chance at the championship each year. To start off the season this hot and win three out of four races is pretty awesome. You have to stay humble because luck can turn around at any moment out here. It’s been a special start to the year and it’s awesome for my guys that work so hard. They thrash in between rounds and I take a deep breath because I know they have it handled. They’re putting a heck of a race car underneath me.”

Next Up

The next event on the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series schedule is the Circle K NHRA Four-Wide Nationals April 28-30 at Carolina (N.C) Dragway.

-TSR-

Contact Ashley Wilson
Tony Stewart Racing
(303) 594-8147 or [email protected]